Birthday Gift
by Black-Neko-Chan
Summary: After getting some wonderful advice from his siblings, Gaara travels to Konoha to tell Lee his feelings and ends up giving him quite a nice birthday gift too. Yeah okay, my summary sucks, but don't let that prevent you from reading.


Hello everyone! Soo, today is not only Thanksgiving but also Rock Lee's birthday, and I decided to write a one-shot to celebrate that. Before you read though, please forgive me. I haven't read a Naruto fanfic in quite a while, and it's been even longer since I've watched the show or read the manga so there's most likely a lot happening that I don't know about. Probably this little one-shot doesn't even follow the most recent storylines or anything like that, so let's just pretend that it does and be happy.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own so don't sue.

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Temari liked getting her sleep. She was a firm believer in beauty sleep and usually slept for about eight hours a day, unless she was on a mission. She liked being able to lie on her comfortable bed and wrapping her soft blankets around her like a cocoon of protection against the cold, crisp desert air. What she didn't like was being woken at any time during the night. She could sleep like a log but getting back to sleep after being initially woken up was another matter altogether. Which was why she wasn't very happy at all to see Gaara standing in front of her bed at a time when she should have rightfully been asleep.

"What?" She demanded, much harsher than she'd been aiming for, but like with much everything else, Gaara was unfazed. He stared at her for a moment with his cool jade eyes, searching for what she didn't know. She shivered, not from the cold that was slowly but persistently infiltrating her warm cocoon, but from the sheer intensity of that gaze. God, that stare could be so creepy. It wasn't Gaara's fault that he couldn't sleep and those big black rings made every look he gave you appear so intense, but Temari did wish that he would realize the effect it had on people and stop doing it.

"What actions should a person take to show another person that they care for them?" He asked. Temari stared dumbly at her little brother for a moment, opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again because she wasn't quite positive that she was fully awake and had heard correctly.

"What?" She asked, somehow feeling stupid. That disconcerting and unnerving stare did nothing to help that feeling, and even now Gaara was crinkling his brow as if he too agrees with that statement about her intelligence. He repeated the question and Temari came to understand that yes, she was awake and yes, that really was Gaara's question. The young Kazekage was a bit stunted when it came to social interaction and on more that one occasion had gotten words mucked up, but it looked like he was correct with this one.

This wasn't the first time Gaara had asked her a peculiar question. He did it quite often for reasons Temari couldn't fathom. She was almost positive that he just pulled these questions randomly out of the air. More often than not they were completely unrelated to anything going on in any of their lives, but this particular question didn't seem that way. Call it women's intuition but it felt to Temari that this one was personal. And that was the shocking aspect of it. Gaara had asked how someone could show someone else that they liked them. That would imply that Gaara liked someone, and that was what seemed so illogical. It wasn't impossible and she had known that it could happen at any time, especially since Gaara was smack-dab in the middle of those pesky teenage years when it seemed the only thing flitting through your mind were hormones, but the idea was so foreign that it did indeed seem impossible. Gaara was so different in so many ways that her brain had just figured it would never happen. But now it had, and Temari was plagued by another question. Just who was it that Gaara liked? She didn't think she'd seen him eyeing anyone lately, so who could it be?

Shaking her head to remove the questions in her head, Temari set about answering her younger brother. "Well usually do something nice for the person, like buying them something, or taking them out on a date."

Gaara pondered this answer for a moment, then, "What's a date?" Temari stared dumbly for the second time in oh-so-many minutes. Then she smirked.

"First tell me who it is that you like," She smiled evilly.

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Then I won't tell you what a date is!" She cried gleefully. Instead of looking defeated like she'd been hoping he would, Gaara looked infuriatingly the same. With a graceful air he turned and crossed the threshold to her door.

"Thank you for your answer, but for the other one I'll just ask Kankuro if you don't want to cooperate," He said. Then he left. And again, Temari felt extremely stupid for not remembering that there was indeed another brother in their strangely unique family just waiting to be woken up and questioned. That and of course she'd never be able to get Gaara to divulge a secret he didn't want to.

-----

Kankuro had been having a very nice dream. It was a dream he'd had before, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable. There was a girl in it, a very pretty girl, one who he couldn't quite recognize whenever he woke up. He knew that he knew her; he just couldn't remember who she was. He'd been so caught up in this dream of his that when he was awoken he almost believed that it was his mystery girl who had done it. Needless to say, he was very disappointed to see Gaara staring at him.

"What is it?" He asked groggily, propping himself up on his elbows to see his brother better.

"What does one do on a date?" He asked. Kankuro blinked. What kind of stupid question was that? Surely that didn't deserve being woken up in the middle of the night, right? He shrugged and decided to just answer it, perhaps then he could go back to sleep.

"Well you usually take the other person to a movie or dinner for a first date. Once you've gotten to know them better you could go for a romantic stroll or you could go someplace special. Afterwards you take the other person home and if everything went well, hope you get lucky." Kankuro grinned in spite of the fact that he did still want to go to sleep and it was still the middle of the night. Gaara cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner and Kankuro was filled with something akin to horror as it hit him that Gaara might not know what he was talking about. It was ridiculous-Surely Gaara knew about sex!-but then there had been other things he thought Gaara would know about and hadn't, but dammit! hadn't Temari given him the talk about the birds and the bees yet?!

"You're talking about sex right?" Kankuro heaved a sigh of relief. So he did know about the birds and the bees. Good, because that definitely wasn't a subject Kankuro wanted to explain.

"Yes, I am talking about sex," Kankuro clarified. Gaara nodded, like a brisk confirmation that he had been right, and then abruptly left the room. Kankuro, who was used to this sudden departure after he had answered one of Gaara's strange questions, just lied back down and hoped he could continue his dream.

-----

Today was Rock Lee's birthday. The day that he had first come into the world. For most people their birthdays were a special day, but for Lee his was more or less like any other day. Today, just like most days, he would shower, eat breakfast, train until lunchtime, eat, train until dinner, eat, then relax and finally go to sleep. The only difference was that today he received presents from his friends. Naruto had treated him to breakfast and there his teammates had given him their gifts. Tenten had gotten him a new set of kunai and some new legwarmers, Neji had gotten him a hefty book on different taijutsu techniques, and his beloved Gai-sensei had gotten him a new jumpsuit and new weights. His was a monotonous and strict regime, even on his birthday, but Rock Lee liked training and was happy doing it, and one was supposed to be happy on their birthday, so he assumed it was okay.

He heard the knock on his door right after he had gotten out of the shower and was about to start training for the day. Normally Lee showered before eating but Naruto had stopped over so early that he hadn't gotten a chance to. He had taken a bath yesterday after dinner to relax his muscles after a particularly vigorous training period; otherwise he would have made Naruto wait until he'd taken one. Still, he liked to take showers and had decided to return to his apartment to take one anyways. Since he had just gotten out of the shower Lee hadn't had quite enough time to completely dress. His green jumpsuit was halfway on, leaving his chest bare and the rest of it settled around his waist. He'd been in the middle of toweling off his hair so when he went to answer the door he had the towel still covering most of his messy ebony locks. Lee didn't think to finish changing and then get the door mainly because it would be rude to keep whoever it was out there waiting and because he really hadn't been expecting anyone to come over. And normally the only people that did knock were Gai-sensei and sometimes Naruto, and neither of them would care if he was not properly dressed yet. And that was why it was safe to say that Lee was very surprised to see Gaara of all people at his door.

"A-ano. . . Gaara-san! What a pleasant surprise!" Lee stammered, feeling very embarrassed given the circumstance. And Gaara wasn't helping to ease the discomfort in any sort of way. The younger boy was staring at Lee's bare chest in a way that made Lee flush uncomfortably, and he wasn't trying to hide it in any sort of way. Lee slowly moved the small square of a towel off his still damp head and used it to try and conceal himself at least a little bit. The redhead's gaze thankfully left his chest and now settled on his messy and rustled hair. Even this movement did little to ease Lee's discomfort as he didn't like people to see his hair when it wasn't slicked down with gel in its normal bowl style.

"Today is your birthday," Gaara stated, finally and thankfully taking his eyes off Lee's hair and moving to his face.

"H-hai," Lee responded, a little taken aback. He hadn't even known that the other ninja knew when his birthday was. He didn't remember ever telling him the date. But was this the reason why Gaara was here in Konoha? Unless he had some other business to attend to.

Gaara nodded to himself, like he was confirming something. "We're going to go on a date," He said suddenly.

"A date?" Lee questioned, blinking, unsure if Gaara had really been meaning to say that. Gaara didn't respond but stood there staring at him. Lee raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. Gaara meant what he said, but why would be want to go on a date with him? Just what did that mean?

"Ano. . . do you like me Gaara-san?" Lee asked. Gaara didn't respond, and for a moment Lee thought that maybe he had said the wrong thing and Gaara hadn't meant that after all. That thought saddened him a little, though he wasn't sure whether it was because he did want Gaara to like him or because he didn't want to insult his friend in any sort of way.

Gaara looked like he was struggling with the answer to that question. He had moved his eyes to look at the floor and had his eyebrow-less brows were bunched together. Other than that there was no sign of this struggle. "I do," He said finally and looked back at Lee. Lee made a slightly audible gasp and his blush increased tenfold. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything because he wasn't quite positive of what he should say. So the two of them stood there, Gaara standing outside of the door looking up at him, scrutinizing him, and Lee standing half-dressed in his doorway with the square towel covering his exposed chest, his mouth open and his face red. It was quite the sight for anyone who happened to be walking past.

Midway through what was going one five minutes the blood that had been flooding Lee's face got up to his brain where it sputtered to life and Lee realized that it was very rude of him to keep Gaara standing outside his door so he stood aside and let him in. Gaara went in silently and stationed himself in the middle of the room.

"I'll just go finish changing," Lee said. He quickly returned to his bathroom and shut the door where he dressed and got his hair in order, all the while pondering the few things the strange redhead had said to him.

Gaara liked him. Lee had no idea how that had come about but obviously it had. Lee didn't know much about that sort of thing, being that the only person he'd ever had affections for had been Sakura, and she'd rejected him fantastically. What he did know about it was that it could hurt, and in this situation that could be dangerous. Who knew what Gaara would do if Lee hurt him? And what would his siblings do? But Gaara was the one who wanted to go on the date, so it would be just as dangerous for him to reject the offer as it would be to accept it. Lee's brain told him to pick the lesser of the two dangers, but for some reason Lee wanted to go out with Gaara. That thought confused him, because if he wanted to go out with Gaara then that wouldn't that mean that he was gay and liked him too?

Lee stopped and ran that last thought through his mind again. He wasn't gay was he? He was unsure what his feelings for Gaara were but if he was gay he would have liked other guys before right? And he would have never liked Sakura. Even now he still harbored some feelings for the pink-haired kunoichi, so that meant that ha wasn't gay and didn't like Gaara because Gaara was his friend and a guy. And he would go out with Gaara on this "date" because he didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings and risk incurring the wrath of him and his siblings.

Glad that he had figured that all out, Lee smiled at his now-dressed reflection in the mirror. Now that he wouldn't have any questions about the nature of his sexuality buzzing in his head he could enjoy this outing with Gaara. And an outing was exactly what it was too. Gaara was most likely confused and had somehow gotten it into his head that he liked Lee. Since that was wrong this "date" was more or less an outing than an actual date. Lee was happy for that too, since it had been a very long time since he'd seen his friend. So he happily finished and went into his living room to get Gaara.

"Yosh! I am ready now Gaara-san!" Lee cried out enthusiastically, pumping his arm for extra emphasize.

"We're going to a movie," Gaara said.

"What a wonderful idea! It's been awhile since I've seen one!" Lee beamed. And with this the two left Lee's small house to get to the theater. Lee talked to Gaara the whole time, telling him the things that had happened in the village since he'd last been there and telling him about the training he'd been doing and how soon he would like to challenge the younger boy to a match. Gaara quietly digested all of this information and talked only to answer the questions Lee had. Lee found himself enjoying this immensely and was actually glad that he was with Gaara instead of training like usual. Not that training was a bad thing or anything; it was just that Lee preferred this instead.

When they reached the theater Gaara allowed Lee to pick out the movie because he said he didn't care. So Lee of course picked out and action movie. About halfway through said movie Lee noticed just how bored Gaara seemed. The younger teen was watching the movie, but his eyes weren't as alert and interested as they normally were when he was watching or looking at something else. It occurred to him that maybe Gaara didn't like action movies, but then he recalled the redhead remarking about how he didn't care. Maybe Gaara just didn't like movies. If that was the case then why had he wanted to go to a movie anyways? Was it because Gaara had known that he would want to? No, that was an absurd idea, Lee though. Why would Gaara go to a movie just for him? He must be interested in it also, even if it didn't look like it.

He went because he likes you, some part of Lee's brain spoke up happily. Lee paled at that though. Gaara didn't really like him, he was just confused right? That had to be it!

No it's not! The happy voice spoke up in sing-song way, and for the first time Lee wished bodily harm on his brain, if that was even possible. That voice made it hard for Lee to deny what he was slowly and unwontedly coming to terms with. Gaara did like him, this wasn't just an outing but an actual date, Lee had wanted to go on this date which meant that he did like Gaara, no matter how much he would rather deny it. And now that he thought about it, hadn't he been blushing a lot when Gaara had first come to his house? He'd written it that off as being embarrassed to be caught in that sort of situation, but the truth was that he wouldn't have been blushing that much if the person had been someone like Naruto.

Hesitantly Lee glance over at Gaara, feeling very awkward to be sitting next to the person he had just realized he had feelings for. He was beginning to feel nervous as he had never really gone out on a date before. He'd gone out with Sakura before but since she'd never liked him their "dates" were really just friends hanging out. Now that he was actually on one he wondered if he was doing it the right way or if he had already messed up.

"Is something wrong Lee?" Lee almost jumped out of his chair when he heard Gaara's voice. He hadn't been expecting him to talk so suddenly.

"N-nothing Gaara-san!" Lee said. Someone behind him grumbled for them to be quiet. Lee blushed and said a quiet "sorry" to the man before turning to face Gaara again. The other teen was looking at him fixedly and it made Lee feel like he was being studied under a microscope.

"For the past few scenes of the movie you've been staring at me. Before you started doing that you were watching it intently, and it just now began to get semi-interesting, so it's not because you were bored that you looked away," Gaara stated. He gave Lee a moment to respond but the other ninja was too bust sputtering and trying to come up with an excuse to say anything. "Is there something wrong with my face?" Gaara asked then. To him, unfamiliar as he was with emotions and how people acted when experiencing certain ones, this seemed like a perfectly good question because he could think of no other reason as to why Lee would be staring at him.

"N-no Gaara-san! How could anything be wrong with your face?" Lee cried, horrified by the very suggestion.

"Oi, shut up! There are people trying to watch the movie!" Someone shouted.

"Gomenasai!" Lee practically shouted, face more flushed than before. Even in the dark of the theater it could be seen. Lee shrank don in his seat and hoped that Gaara wouldn't say anything else, otherwise he would have to responds and he didn't want to risk angering anyone else in the theater.

"If there's nothing wrong with my face," continued Gaara, either oblivious or uncaring of the evil glare he was receiving from a man in the back, "then why were you looking at me?" Lee yelped and his blush increased tenfold. His brain seemed to have died at this moment because he couldn't think of a good excuse for this question. So he stuttered terribly as he stumbled through what he hoped was at least a reasonable one until an overly large man walked up to where the two were seated.

"I warned you twice to be quiet but you wouldn't listen. So now I'm gonna hafta shut the two of you up," The man threatened.

"We're busy," Gaara glared at the man. He snorted, much like a pig would, and Lee decided that now would be a good time to intervene in what was bound to be a bad fight if this was allowed to continue. He stood up between the man and Gaara and smiled.

"We're both very sorry to have bothered you. We'll be quiet from now on," He beamed. He almost made the Nice Guy pose but decided it would only anger the man more. What a shame too.

"That's the same thing you said the other two times and it hadn't happened yet. Prob'ly won't either. So, here're your choices: Get out or I'll make you," The man growled.

"Then make us," Gaara threatened. The younger boy was standing at Lee's side, his cool, calculating jade eyes dangerously narrow, and was that the sound of sifting sand Lee heard?

He acted quickly and didn't think of what he was doing. Lee's mind was focused on what would happen if the man angered Gaara anymore and he didn't want anyone to get hurt or for the movie theater to get wrecked. He put his hands on Gaara's shoulders, meaning to calm the other down and then get him to leave the theater. Gaara tensed under his touch-something that wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone who happened to be looking but was clearly so to him-and Lee realized what he'd done. Gaara had never been comfortable with human touch, even though he allowed it now there were precious few who would willingly touch him and no one who did it without warning, with the only exception being Naruto because the boy was too dense to see that it made Gaara uncomfortable.

Lee's first impulse was to pull away and release the other but he figured that he already had Gaara's attention now, even if he was still glowering at the man Lee knew he was listening, so he might as well finish what he'd started and do what he had planned.

"Come on Gaara-san. Let's go. We can do something else," Lee suggested. Gaara was silent and he waited. He also pulled his hands off the redhead's shoulders.

"Fine," Gaara relented finally, still glaring at the man. He said something under his breath as they passed but Lee didn't catch it. If Gaara did he chose not to elaborate. They left the theater and walked out into the sun. Gaara started walking and Lee followed silently.

"Where are we going now Gaara-san?" Lee asked cheerfully. Since walking out of the theater there had been a sort of aura around the other teen, one that Lee couldn't identify and certainly didn't feel very comfortable with. He hoped that he could do something to dispel it, or at least lesson it a little. It seemed to work for when Gaara spoke the air around them no longer seemed so oppressive.

"We're going to eat dinner," Gaara answered. At the mention of food Lee's stomach rumbled loudly, surprising him. Had it really been that long since he's last eaten? He didn't think it had but his stomach was telling him otherwise.

"Lee?"

"Yes Gaara-san?"

"Before that man interrupted, what were you going to say in the theater?" Lee stopped. Of course he hadn't forgotten about that, he thought. Now what will I tell him?

Gaara meanwhile, had also stopped walking and was gazing at Lee with what could only be described as concern on his normally very emotionless face.

"Is something wrong Lee?" He asked. Lee sighed. Looked like he had to confess.

"No Gaara-san, I'm fine. Back in the movie theater, I was looking at you because well. . .," He trailed off. He began to kick at a pebble on the ground, very much aware that he still needed to finish his answer and that a blush was adorning his cheeks. He knew that it really shouldn't be this hard to confess his feelings to the other, especially since he already knew that Gaara liked him back. Heh, the younger boy hadn't had any trouble with this. If only he had Gaara's bluntness. . .

"Well, I like you Gaara," Lee finished, purposely leaving the "-san" off the end of his name because after all, they had both confessed to liking each other so surely he didn't need to still be so formal, right? Lee kept his eyes on the pebble next to his sandaled feet, not wanting to look up at Gaara just yet because he had just been very bold.

"Ah." Lee's head shot up as soon as that one syllable left Gaara's lips, expecting to see some sort of reaction on the other's face-hopefully a good one-and seeing nothing. Gaara was just as bland-faced as normal.

"'Ah?'" Lee repeated.

"I'm surprised. I didn't expect to hear this from you," Gaara replied, "I didn't think you liked me in that sort of way."

"If you didn't think that I liked you," Lee began, starting to feel confused, "then why did you ask me out on a date?"

"Temari told me that it was what I should do," Gaara shrugged. This caused Lee to quirk an eyebrow. So Temari had told Gaara to ask him out on a date eh? Did this mean that the fan-wielding kunoichi knew who her brother liked and approved?

"Does this mean that I'm going to get lucky?" Gaara asked, interrupting Lee from his musings. For a moment he didn't respond as his brain processed just what the redhead had said, and as comprehension dawned he swung his hand to cover his nose (just in case) while some _colorful _images unwantedly flashed through his mind of him and Gaara doing the very thing the other teen had suggested.

"G-Gaara-san! Wh-w-what?! 'Lucky?!'" He stuttered nervously, face now a very bright red.

"Is that a yes?" Gaara asked, seemingly oblivious to the state Lee was in. Lee, whose nose actually had started to bleed just a tad, was now concentrating on trying to dispel the bad images in his head. He succeeded, but just barely. Any minute he expected they would be back.

"Let's just concentrate on dinner right now Gaara-san," Lee said weakly, wiping off his nose. Gaara nodded and the two started to walk again. Lee chuckled to himself softly, thinking of just how different today had been and of how different the days following were bound to be.

"Thank you Gaara-san," Lee smiled.

"For what?" Gaara asked.

"For the birthday present," Lee responded. He bent over and planted a chaste kiss on Gaara's cheek. Gaara blinked and raised his hand to the area, slowly grazing over it with his fingertips. A hardly noticeable pink tinge colored his normally pale face. Lee chuckled again and Gaara dropped his hand.

"Come on, let's go eat," He said. He took Lee's hand and they walked off in search of a restaurant, Lee still smiling and Gaara calm like usual, both feeling very happy and content.

* * *

So yes, that was my wonderful one-shot with it's crappy generic title of doom (Fear it!). I actually don't like it too much. Like, it's good, just not really as good as it could have been. Mabe it's because I'm really not that interested in Naruto anymore, I don't know. Drop a review and tell me what you think about it.

Also, before you go, I have just a few things to mention. First, I loved describing Lee after he got out of the shower. That was just hot, heehee. Second, I also very much love Kankuro's advice. Third, do people actually pick fights with other noisy people in movie theaters? I made it happen of course and I know that it does in movies, but do things like that ever actually happen in real life? Don't know why I asked, just curious I suppose. And fourth, there was going to be a kiss scene in this, I had it all planned out in my head and everything, but then when I wrote this it kind of got excluded. So I just threw in that cute little kiss-on-the-cheek thing for the heck of it.

Okay, that's it then! Thanks for reading, click the little button to leave a review, and have a happy turkey day!


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